A Day on the Water

I think the first line on the website that I read was something like this: "Have you ever heard a dolphin breathe?" Given that this was the kayak rental website, I was thrilled that I would get to hear many dolphins breathing along side our kayaks as we slowly paddled through the calm, salty bay waters of Gulf Shores. We were excited about this vacation. We are staying in a part of the Alabama gulf that we've never stayed at before. A quieter little neighbrhood away from all the spring breakers. There are more "Snowbirds" (a term we've just learned this month as we've searched for condos, all rented monthly by these, um, more "seasoned" vacationers) than families with young kids and it's wonderful. The pools aren't crowded and the beach is even less so. You look to the east of our beach and there is literally nothing. Just sand and water and slow rolling tides and splendid dunes. Given that we've spent a lot of time in long-sleeves and swimming in the indoor pool, we looked forward to golfing, kayaking, and visiting the cutest little zoo in the world in Gulf Shores. So, anyway... back to that day on the water...

The part of the website we MISSED: "backrests available." Yup. That would have been nice to know. My lower back is surprisingly working this morning. The fact that I can even type is even more surprising. As we paddled for nearly 4 hours, I thought for sure we'd be spending the day inside today, nursing our sore muscles. And those sweet little dolphin breaths? Yah, that never happened. Never saw as much as a fin pop up out of the water. Our backs hurt, our hips hurt, our arms hurt and our rears REALLY hurt. I have this weird splotchy sunburn on my shoulders and the kids are each burnt in one small spot under their left eye? Go figure. We saw a few fish pop out of the water and we saw seagulls. Lots and lots of seagulls. That was it. That was all. But you know what? It was the BEST part of our vacation so far. The kids never whined and were so happy the entire time. It was a glorious day!

We stopped for sandwiches along the way at a dock under a restaurant. We "had" to buy candy at a candy store so we didn't feel guilty using their bathroom.

Greetings from Alabama!